Willing to Wait
by Android 28
Summary: Lazuli grew up outside the big cities of the Kingdoms. Though, that life would naturally be harder. But who's to say that it will always be hard? Lucky for her, she get's to Beacon Academy. Where she meets a certain team. (Is also on Archieve of Our Own)
1. Prologue

A girl was sparring with her father. Her lavender colored hair was pulled back into a ponytail, as to keep it from her face. Though a few strands did fall loose. Her slightly dark skin sticky with sweat. They'd been training for nearly two hours, and there hadn't been a break yet.

"Lazuli, raise your fist higher sweetie!" The girl heard her mother call.

Without missing a beat, she raised her fist just high enough to block her father's next attack. Then she fell into a crouch, and kicked out her leg at her father's ankles. He jumped back, but did stumble a bit.

"Great job." Her father complimented.

Lazuli nodded in appreciation, but didn't speak because she was panting. She didn't have the endurance of her father, not worth a damn. But according to them, she was getting better. So much so, that they had two training sessions now. One, hand to hand combat. The other, weapon training. She had sort sessions with all kinds of weapons. Now she had to make a choice as what to become her own.

"Okay. Lazuli, you have to choose your weapon base now. A sword, polearm, anything really." Her father crouched down next to her.

"Anything?" She looked up at her father with her blue eyes.

"Anything." He repeated back to her.

"I want something, but still with some distance." She frowned in thought. Then it came to her. "I've got it!"

Lazuli ran inside her home, with a new found energy. She barely registered her parents following her. She ran around until she had a pencil and a paper in hand. She began to sketch as quickly as she could. Finally finished, she showed her parents.

It was sword, but it would extend sideways to a fan like design. Her mother slowly smiled, her father was still somewhat surprised. He looked at his young daughter curiously.

"Are you sure?" He asked her.

"One hundred percent." Lazuli nodded, and smiled a bit more like her mother.

"Well, I know just who can make this." Her mother said.

Before Lazuli or her father could question it, there were loud screams from outside. Some were surprise, panic, and pain. Lazuli looked to her parents, but all they did was frown. Her father ran to his bedroom, then ran back out holding a pair of long barreled pistols. He ran outside with this since of purpose on his face. His blue eyes holding an intensity that Lazuli had never seen before.

"Sweetheart." Lazuli turned to her mother's voice. "I'm going to give you some instructions. If me and your father don't come back, you are to follow these instructions to the 'T', do you understand?" Lazuli had no choice but to nod.

"But what-"

"You're going to go to the basement, hide there until you don't hear anything. Even after that, wait for another ten minutes. During that time, think about the best times in your life. Things that make you happiest. When that's done, go to this place." Her mother scribbled quickly on the back of the paper. Without another word, she handed her the paper and shoved her toward the basement door.

"B-but-"

"Lazuli! Go. NOW!" Her mother yelled at her, and with that, Lazuli went to the basement.

The young girl found a place where a bunch of useless junk was piled up, and hid and fell quiet. She closed her eyes and began to think of things that made her happy. Her father's cooking. Sparring with him. Her mother's stories. Her laughter.

Everything that made her happy. Even when the screams died down, and there was rustling upstairs, she continued to think happy thoughts. _Mom's songs. Dad's return after a job._

Lazuli suddenly realized that she'd been hiding for a good few hours now. Getting to her feet, she looked at the back of the paper where her mother wrote.

 _Lazuli, go to the village just North of here. There will be a blacksmith who can make your weapon, just say that me and your father sent you. Take the metal from some of the old weapons we have. Take my shield, I'd have made sure it was by the door. I love you._

Lazuli felt tears begin to sting her eyes, but she forced them down as hard as she could. Now was not the time to cry. She folded up the paper and slipped it into her pocket. She went and grabbed a backpack, she walked around the house picking up some of the training weapons. When she finally stepped outside, she saw that her beloved home was nothing but ashes. Before she break down in tears, she grabbed her mother's shield and ran as fast as she could.


	2. Chapter 1

Lazuli sat in Beacon Academy's library with an uninterested look on her face. Not even the book in front of her keeping her attention too well at the moment.

She wore at wore a purple shirt that bared her midriff, metal shoulder armor on her right, and lower arm armor on her left along with a dark gray glove. She wore dark gray shorts, with blueish purple flat heels that stopped at her lower calf.

Lazuli had sent her weapon to a blacksmith, a very trusted one, but wasn't left weaponless. She had her mother's shield on her back, and knew how to use it well enough.

Getting to her feet, she walked out of the library. She continued through the halls without much thought, to she realized that she reached the sparring room. Where she heard the sounds of battle. Letting curiosity get the best of her, she walked inside. She walked into the room and couldn't stop herself from staring in awe.

It was a pair of girls. One with long, black hair and red eyes. She was attacking with an insanely long katana, and doing so with great skill. The other was a girl with dark red hair and silver eyes. She wore a white cloak and moved around quickly, dodging her opponent's attacks with a practiced skill.

"Enjoying the fight?" A voice spoke from behind Lazuli.

She quickly turned around with wide eyes. It was blonde guy, he had blue eyes that made her sort of jealous of how bright they were. He also seemed to have quite a bit of muscle on him.

"Umm, yeah." Lazuli glanced back to them, then turned back to the blonde. "You know them?" She asked him.

"Yeah. Their my teammates." He said with a bit of a smirk. "And you are?" He asked with a flirty tone.

"I'm Lazuli." She said blushing a bit.

"Lazuli, I'm Taiyang. But you can just call me Tai." He said flashing her a toothy grin.

"Tai! Who's the girl?" Lazuli heard another male's voice.

She glanced over to see who it was. It stood a tall, lean muscled guy. He had black hair with sharp red eyes. Again, Lazuli felt herself begin to blush.

"You come over and meet her yourself!" Tai yelled back at the guy.

Lazuli glanced at the two girls who were previously fighting, but were now looking between each other and Tai. Soon the other three people had joined her and Tai by the door.

"This is my new friend Lazuli." Tai introduced her, though he put an arm around her shoulder as he said it.

"Well Lazuli, I'm Summer." The white cloaked girl said with a friendly smile.

"Raven." The girl with long black hair said next.

"Lazuli, I think you might want to start looking for a better friend." The guy said rather bluntly. The girl with the white cloak pushed him, but he hardly seemed fazed but rolled his eyes. "Qrow."

"Nice to meet you all." Lazuli did her best to give a friendly smile back, though she doubted it looked as welcoming as she hoped.

Though she could have been fooled because Summer took the baton in the conversation.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what's your weapon?" She asked Lazuli.

"Oh, I don't have it on me currently, but until it gets back, I use this shield." Lazuli pointed to the shield strapped to her back.

"Really? What's wrong with your's?" Raven questioned.

"Nothing I don't think, I just send it to professional I know so it stays in top condition." The lavender headed girl replied.

Summer's eyes suddenly began to widen at her, like a kid wanting a toy. Just pure excitement on her childish face.

"Umm..." Lazuli rubbed the back of her neck somewhat nervously. "Summer?" She asked the redhead timidly.

"You're a weapons nerd too?" Summer asked.

Lazuli couldn't help but laugh, causing the others to do the same. She would guess she was, but wouldn't have called it that.

"I guess so, Summer." Lazuli chuckled a bit.

Summer's expression turned from excited and hopeful to pure joy, nearly tackling her in a hug. It was actually rather surprising, but she was able to catch herself. Though from the feeling on her back, Tai also went to catch her.

"They've found each other." Qrow joked chuckling afterward.

Glancing up at the others, Lazuli saw that Raven just rolled her eyes, Qrow was holding down laughs, and Tai was smiling a bit but it wasn't laughter. Lazuli actually had no idea what the expression was, but decided to just move on.

"We're going to be great friends!" Summer said excitedly, but was quiet enough to where only loud enough so only Lazuli could hear her.


	3. Chapter 2

Lazuli was sitting in the training room with Summer next to her. The pair looking through weapon magazines. The pair chatted about each of the weapons that they'd find. How cool it would be to own one or how they'd use it in a fight. The pair did this ritual almost everyday at this point, for nearly a week. In front of them, the Branwen twins were sparring with each other.

"Hey you two." Tai greeted sitting next to you and Summer. "So what's going on?" He asked glancing at the magazines in their hands.

"Oh, just weapon talk. How about you?" Lazuli looked up at him with a bit of a smile.

"Nothing really. Though I do have a question." Tai said leaning forward slightly toward Lazuli.

"Ask away Taiyang." Lazuli closed the magazine and looked him in the eyes.

"It's been nearly a week now. Where is _your_ weapon? We're gonna be going on our missions pretty soon, so how exactly do plan on doing that without your weapon?" The blonde questioned.

"Yeah, if your weapon was sent back it should be here by now." Summer chimed in looking to Lazuli.

"I'm gonna choose a mission that would put me in that area. A 'Village Security' is my first choice if I get it." Lazuli explained with a smile coming to her face.

"Oooh. You'll be having fun won't you?" Tai said leaning back on his hands.

"You know I will." Lazuli replied with a playfully sarcastic tone.

The three of them went into a relaxed silence. Lazuli's blue eyes going over to watch Qrow and Raven's sparring match. Qrow raised his sword to block one of his sister's attacks. Raven moving backwards only to suddenly spring forward at an almost blinding speed, only to go for a low slash at Qrow's abdomen. He was barely able to stop it, but quickly made an attack of his own. Slashing upward, catching his sister off guard.

"So you can actually fight without your main weapon?" Tai questioned, pulling Lazuli from the fight in front of her.

"Yeah. My team would hate me if I didn't know how to handle myself without my weapon." She mused with a chuckle.

"Can I see?" Summer asked, her eyes widening in excitement. Reminding Lazuli of their first meeting.

"Sure, why not?" Lazuli shrugged a bit.

"Really?!" Summer was on her feet in less than a second.

 _How she didn't she trip on that long cloak?_

"Yeah, I guess I'll do a quick match with someone." Lazuli stood up after her excited friend. "Taiyang?" She looked to him.

"Why me?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Can you say 'no' to that face?" Lazuli gestured to Summer's face, which was practically glowing in excitement.

"Argh...fine." Tai got to his feet next, but not without muttering in complaint.

"Qrow! Raven! Tai and Lazuli need the floor now!" Summer yelled to her teammates.

The twins stopped short of an attack, and looked at their leader. Raven slid her sword back into its Dust-filled scabbard, and Qrow perched his on his shoulder. He gave Lazuli and Tai a questioning look. He didn't seem annoyed, just questioning. The two walked over to the others.

"Their gonna spar?" Raven questioned, making Summer nod.

"Now you two get over there." Summer gave Lazuli and Tai a push.

The two stood in the middle of the room, Tai's palm hovering over the back of Lazuli's hand. The two stared into each other's eyes for a moment, then gave a slight nod. Not a moment after, both made an attack. Tai went for a punch, with Lazuli doing the same. Both of them hitting target on the other's cheek. Lazuli jumped back as not to be caught staggering.

Tai recovered quickly and ran at Lazuli. He went for punch at her stomach, but Lazuli turned out of the way. She went for kick at his side, but he blocked and pushed her leg away. Lazuli fell into a somewhat sloppy wide stance, but used it to fall low and go for a sweep at his legs. Tai fell but caught himself in a backwards somersault. He looked Lazuli in the eyes again, and the pair smirked at each other.

She rushed at him and threw a punch for his face, but he weaved out of the way. He threw one for her chin, and hit his target. Lazuli staggered back. Tai went for another punch, but something stopped him. Lazuli had her shield from her back and in front of her, blocking his attack.

"We can use weapons?" Tai said in a playfully whiny tone.

"No one ever said we couldn't." Lazuli shot back with a smirk, but it when away for her next move.

She did a backflip away from him, then threw it at him. Tai's eyes went wide, but he ducked under it and charged at Lazuli. She smirked and ran at him as well. When they were only a short distance apart, Lazuli jumped upward. She then used Tai's shoulders to propel herself behind him. She rolled a bit but kept running until she had her shield again. She turned back to face Tai, wearing a cocky smirk on her face.

The two went back at it, exchanging blows. Lazuli just barely using her shield to stop Tai's attacks. Then it was a good few minutes of them fighting on equal footing until Tai knocked the shield away from Lazuli. She kicked out, but he caught her leg with a smirk on his face. Slowly, one came to her's as well.

"That was AWESOME!" Summer yelled from the sidelines, making Lazuli jump in surprise.

Something about the fight seemed to pull her away from reality. It made it hard to focus on anyone or anything else when she was going one on one with an opponent. Even if was just sparring. Though Lazuli never really lingered on the thought much, she just assumed that's how it was for everyone. Though she did get a teasing look from Tai, who probably felt her jump a little.

Tai dropped her leg, and the pair walked over to Summer and the twins.

"Not bad, you're able to handle yourself pretty well. Though I hope you have more skill with your weapon." Raven commented with a nonchalant smirk on her face. Getting a push from Summer, which just made her laugh.

"Don't worry Raven. I'm much better with it." Lazuli said with a smile.


	4. Chapter 3

"Hey Lazuli." Turning around, Lazuli saw Taiyang walking toward her.

"Afternoon Tai." She greeted to him. "What's up?" She asked.

Lazuli was just lying out in the grass in the courtyard. She had no real plans so just decided to be lazy, just relax for a bit. Her teammates were out, they insisted she come along, but decided against it.

"Nothing really. Just saw you taking a catnap on the grass and decided to come and bug you." He said smiling at her.

"That's so mean." Lazuli mumbled before yawning.

A catnap didn't sound too bad at the moment. She'd actually welcome it. Lying here for so long, she was really enjoying being lazy.

"So where's the rest of the team?" She asked looking up at him.

"I...don't know." He stopped for a moment out of thought.

"You're an awful teammate." She rolled her eyes at him.

She looked up at him for a moment. He was standing up and blocking out most of the sun from her. Stretching her arms above her head, she patted the spot next to her. Tai stared for a moment, then shrugged. He lied down next to her and rested his head on his hands. Both of them just stared at the sky for a bit, just relaxing for a bit.

"You've met mine, when am I gonna meet your team?" The blonde suddenly asked.

"I'll introduce you at some point." Lazuli turned on her side to face him.

"Don't tell me you're embarrassed by me?" Tai feigned hurt.

"Yes, I am." She smiled at him.

"You're so mean." He laughed a bit, looking over at her.

"Wanna go the city?" Lazuli asked getting to her feet.

"Sure, why?" Tai got to his feet as well, dusting off his pants a bit.

"I'm kinda hungry. And if I stay on the ground any longer, I'll fall fast asleep." She stretched and began to walk with Tai right beside her.

The two reached the city in no time. The pair went to a cafe and were waiting in line to order.

"That sparring match was fun yesterday." Tai commented, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah. I underestimated just how good you were." Lazuli said feeling herself smile.

"Isn't that one of the first rules of combat. 'Never underestimate'?" He smirked at her teasingly.

"Yeah, but I can tell you weren't expecting me to put up too good of a fight." She leaned forward and gave him a cheeky smile.

"You've got me there." He chuckled quietly.

The pair soon ordered and got their food and drink. Walking out of the shop, they walked around for a good bit before they reached the center of Vale. A park sat in the middle, with a trees placed along the sides of each path that lead to the center. At it, stood a white stone fountain. Lazuli and Tai took a seat next to the fountain. She leaned her back against it and let out a content sigh.

"You're enjoying yourself?" Tai questioned with a smile.

"It's so peaceful. How could you not?" Lazuli shot back, taking her drink and taking a sip. She ordered strawberry lemonade, smiling at the sweetness of the drink.

"So how did you learn to fight?" He asked taking a sip of his own drink, having got coffee.

"Parents taught me." She replied somewhat briskly. Catching her tone, she continued. "My father mostly. He was a master in my opinion." She said looking over at one of the trees around them.

Tai stared at her face for a moment. He caught the word 'was' and prepared to question it, but decided against it when he saw her face. The way her smile faltered for a moment, and how quickly she turned away from him.

"They taught you well. If I wasn't able to get the shield away from you, you'd have beat me." He gave her a relaxed smile.

"I doubt that." Lazuli looked back at him, and found herself feeling happier. "You're great at it. The only person I know who could really rival you now, is a teammate of mine."

"So when am I going to meet your team?" He gave her a childish pout.

"Never if you keep asking me." She turned away from him a laugh.

"You're so mean!" He shot back laughing as well.

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they ate the snacks they ordered. Lazuli had some cookies while Tai got a sandwich. Before she take a bite of her treat, he leaned over to her and took a bite of it for her. She glared at him and he just gave her a cheeky smile back.

"And I'm the mean one." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yep." He nodded. "The cookie is sweet though." She pushed him, and he just laughed.

They pair soon finished and gathered up their things. Glancing over at the fountain, Lazuli saw that plenty of people made wishes. She reached to her side and pulled out a coin. She stared at it for a moment, wondering just what she would wish for. Her dark blue eyes slowly widened when she had the perfect one in mind. She tossed it into fountain, earning a smile from Taiyang.

"What did you wish for?" He asked as they began to leave.

"If you must know," She rolled her eyes playfully. "I wished for more days like this." Lazuli looked up at the sky for a moment.

"Really? You enjoy my company that much?" He grinned at her.

Looking over at him, she saw just how cocky and flirtatious the grin was. She felt her face heat up in a blush, and gave him a shove. Tai just bursted into laughter, not helping her blush at all.

"You're the mean one though." She muttered loud enough for him to hear.

"Don't blush so much. I enjoy your company too." Tai's laughter slowly died down into a chuckle.

"Whatever." She slowly felt a smile creep onto her face, but looked away so Tai couldn't see it.

She felt a strong, but warm feeling not quite related to her blushing. Lazuli hadn't felt something like it before, but actually liked it. But she didn't want to let Tai know he was the one who caused it. Then she'd never hear the end of his teasing.

"Lazuli, don't ignore me."


	5. Chapter 4

Lazuli sighed quietly as she stepped into dorm. She was trying to hold down a smile, but was finding it rather difficult. She just spent a good portion of her day with Taiyang, and that warm feeling was still holding onto her. She wanted to give a name to it, but for the life of her, couldn't quite tell what it was.

"Evening to you Lazuli." Looking up sharply, Lazuli saw it was her partner, Jade Vagabond.

Jade is light skinned girl with short green hair with teal colored eyes. A defining feature was the dark green, butterfly shape that was tattooed around her left eye. She was currently wearing her pajamas. An oversized white t-shirt, and a pair of black leggings. She sat on her bed and looked up at her with a smile on her face.

"Oh. When did you guys get back?" Lazuli asked walking over to her bed.

"About an hour ago, though the guys went out to find you and get me something sweet." Jade replied getting to her feet and marching over to her partner.

"Uhh..." Lazuli rubbed the back of her neck nervously, wandering what made her teammate so serious.

"So, who is it?" Jade asked her suddenly.

"What?"

"Who has you walking around with a sunshine smile on your face? Though that smile is supposed to be reserved for your team." Jade crossed her arms as she studied the shorter girl's face intensely.

"Umm, "sunshine smile"?" She questioned the green haired girl.

"Yes! You did come in here lighting up the entire room. So who is it?" Jade leaned forward a bit as she waited for an answer.

"I guess it's Taiyang. I did spend the day with him." Lazuli felt her blush begin to creep back up as she remembered her day with him.

His infectious smile. His bright, but rather soft blue eyes. How he was always playful, joking around with her. Even with his constant teasing, she couldn't help but enjoy is rather sunny company.

"Taiyang?" Jade leaned away from her teammate as she began to think. "Taiyang Xiao Long?" She asked frowning slightly.

"Yeah." Lazuli nodded.

"He's a total flirt!" Lazuli nearly fell from how loud her friend suddenly became.

"What?" She very much heard her, but wanted an explanation.

"He's flirted with everyone. Dated plenty, probably got lucky a good few times." Jade crossed her arms with an upturned nose.

"Really?" Lazuli looked up at her friend with slight grimace on her face.

"I'm pretty sure. But I know for a fact, there could be an organization of people he's flirted with. A club for the people he's dated." Jade sat down on Lazuli's bed, crossing her legs.

"So, I'm just another girl?" Lazuli felt her stomach begin to drop.

The warm feeling that stuck with her to her dorm was starting to fade. Being replaced with a rather cold and unpleasant one. She knew this feeling, and could easily give a name to this.

Jade looked to her friend, seeing her expression fall. Her arms slowly wrapping around herself. Making her look small and defenseless. She reached over and pulled Lazuli close to her. Keeping her in a tight embrace.

"Even people like him can change. He probably has never met the person who would make him want to stop." Jade was choosing each of her words carefully. "I'd definitely stop flirting if I met someone like you." She said looking at Lazuli to see how she was holding up.

Lazuli looked up at Jade through her eyelashes, and slowly smiled at her. Whether or not Jade actually meant it, it did make her feel a bit better. Though she'd have to ask Summer about Tai's history. They weren't together at all, but she felt as if she needed to know about it.

"Thanks." Lazuli said getting to her feet.

"Now, go get ready for bed. Class is going to be intense tomorrow." Jade gave her a gentle push.

"Why?" Lazuli raised her eyebrow at her partner.

"Because, we're going to be doing a team battle with anyone who volunteers, and...I have some late work for History."

Lazuli rolled her eyes and grabbed her pajamas. How she was so close to this girl, she'd never know.


End file.
